For Your Happiness
by ToujoursMiraculous
Summary: One moment, one decision can change the course of everything. Adrien had no idea that this one day would live with him forever and would lead to him becoming Timetagger ten years later to change it.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **

I've had this idea for awhile now, but was struck with inspiration to start writing it!

Said inspiration can be found while listening to Lenni-Kim's "I'm Still Waiting For You" which describes this fic pretty well.

* * *

It was just a normal day in the city of Paris. Citizens were going about their day, and like usual, they were hoping today was a day that Hawk Moth would let the people have some peace.

Today happened to be one of those days.

Little did they know, another kind of villain was about to burst into existence.

Marinette started the day off as usual. She woke up, very annoyed at her alarm clock. She stumbled down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. After eating breakfast, she got dressed, brushed her hair and teeth, grabbed her school bag, and headed out the bakery door with minimal time to spare.

Adrien also started his day like he normally would. It was the exact same routine day in and day out - minus a sudden photoshoot that would start well before dawn - Nathalie made sure his schedule was perfect and wasted no time. But that was okay with him, because his routine led him to school each morning, or afternoon at the latest.

As Adrien's car pulled up in front of the school building, Marinette was rushing towards the stairs.

"Marinette!" He called a greeting to her. She stopped, spinning around at the sound of her name.

"Oh, hey Adrien!" She waved, waiting for him to catch up. His bodyguard grunted impatiently, but decided it'd be alright to take off.

"Remember how I asked you once if you'd like to go to one of my photo shoots?" he asked. She blinked with surprise before she nodded in reply. "I was thinking you could come to my next one, I think it'd be more your style than my previous ones."

If Marinette was being honest, she would've forgotten all about it, had he not mentioned it again. She thought he had just been polite in his offer.

"Really? When is it?" She asked excitedly.

Adrien grinned. "It's after school, I hope it's not too short notice. I only found out the details last night."

"Oh, no, it's fine! I don't have anything planned after school." Then it struck her that she did in fact have something to do later. "Well, actually I was supposed to head over to Juleka and Luka's," she said with a scratch of her head, "but we didn't have any _specific_ plans. They wouldn't want me to miss out on an opportunity like this. I'll let Juleka know when we get to class."

"Okay, if you're sure they wouldn't mind," said Adrien with a chuckle and a smile.

"I'm sure. I'll make sure to schedule another time with Juleka when I cancel today."

He nodded. "Good idea. Anyways, we better get to class or we'll be late."

"Right."

They walked in a comfortable silence for a few moments, as they entered the building. Then Adrien's pace slowed, drawing Marinette's attention.

"Adrien?"

"Ah," he rubbed the back his neck nervously. "By the way, how's Luka doing? You go over there a lot, right?" His green eyes locked onto Marinette.

"Luka? He's doing great. And yeah, I go over there pretty often. Why?"

Adrien frowned. "Just wondering. I haven't seen him in awhile. Or you outside of school."

"Oh," her smile brightened. "We've been pretty busy with band stuff, so that's probably why. Luka writes all of the songs music, and with the album coming out, and-" Marinette abruptly cut herself off, her face suddenly flush. "Well, we've just been really busy."

It took Adrien a second too long for his brief smile to appear as his heart fluttered at her words. "I see. Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I forgot something in my locker and I don't want to make you late for class. Could you tell Ms. Bustier that I'll be right there?"

Marinette smiled. "No problem!"

"Thanks, Marinette. See you in class," he waved and watched her head for the stairs before he turned around and headed into the empty locker room.

"Good job, Casanova! You've finally taken my advice and chosen one of your admirers!" Plagg beamed slyly.

"What?"

"I wasn't going to say anything, but she was my only choice out of all of them. Very kind, and the food at her bakery… I'm going to be eating so much delicious food! All the cheese bread…" Plagg started drooling.

Adrien's eyebrow quirked. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't choose anyone."

"Oh? Were you not questioning Marinette just now about that blue-haired Luka kid?"

"So?" he said defensively.

Plagg made a noise. "You were just making conversation then, asking if she spends a lot of time with him?"

He remained silent, his shoulders slumping as he sat down on the bench.

"What's up?" asked Plagg, landing on his shoulder. "You've been acting a bit weird lately, and after that conversation, at least now I know the reason."

"I don't know," he admitted. "Ever since I compared Marinette's handwriting to that anonymous poem, and after thinking it was from Ladybug…"

He closed his eyes and his brows pinched together. "It's pretty stupid."

"I'll be the judge of that. Hurry up and spit it out, or your teacher will be wondering what's taking you so long."

Adrien slowly opened his eyes as he let out a deep breath. "There are two different sides to this that I've been obsessing over, both of which involve Marinette being the one to have written that poem, which in itself is probably absurd for me to think-"

Plagg opened his mouth to cut in with a comment, but Adrien ignored him.

"-but I just can't seem to let it go. There's the side where Marinette wrote that poem and - and I guess I don't really know how to handle it if it's really her that wrote it. How could she like me, really? I'm just a guy who models clothes while she goes out there and does what she can to help everyone whenever they need her, even if she's risking something to do so."

"Thus your 'everyday Ladybug' comment. Continue," added Plagg.

"Then there's the side where, because I thought it was Ladybug's poem at first, then Marinette's, I came up with the thought '_what if they're the same person_. Which is even crazier! But now it's been nagging at me. I want to find out, but I don't want to break Ladybug's trust. If they _are_ the same person, that makes it even harder."

"... You lost me. Why would it be harder?"

"Marinette knows the thoughts and feelings Chat Noir has that I never talked to Ladybug about. If they're the same person, she's always known them. And yet, she's never loved Chat Noir. When Marinette said she loved me as Chat, I don't think she really meant it. I don't know why she said it in the first place, but she never had feelings for me as Chat Noir, she's made that abundantly clear. It was nice, thinking someone would actually love that side of me, even if it was only for awhile."

Adrien sighed and stood up, going to his locker. "It's harder because I care so much about Marinette to the point where-" he cut himself off, before mentally editing what he was about to say, "Where I would do anything to make sure she's safe and happy. I know she cares about me, she cares about everyone, but…"

"But she doesn't care _for_ you?" Plagg filled in for him.

He didn't reply. If she really had feelings for Adrien, if she was Ladybug, would it be enough that she didn't love Chat Noir? Would Chat Noir being Adrien make her change her mind if she did in fact like him? Not to mention...

"I thought you said you didn't choose anyone. Yet you care if she has feelings for you? Sounds like choosing to me! Besides, how do you know she doesn't? If she wrote that poem, she probably does!"

"Which brings me back to Luka," Adrien shut his locker door a little harder than intended.

Plagg sighed and let out a groan. "We'll talk about him later. For now, you have to go to class. I don't want to hear you whining about getting in trouble for skipping class and being taken out of school by your father as punishment."

Adrien smiled. "Stop acting like you don't care, I know you do."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Thanks," he pet him in the head briefly and opened his jacket to let his Kwami hide for the day. "I know you don't like anything being cheesy other than cheese itself, but I don't know what I'd do without you."

He thought he heard a sniffle while he walked the empty halls to class. 

* * *

**AN: **

Please make sure you leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! They make me smile and encourage me to write!

If you're waiting for a Broken update or an update on one of my other fics, I've hit a bit of writers block with them, but don't fret! They're coming.

Follow me on tumblr toujoursmiraculous for fanfiction updates and other ML-related blog stuff!


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you ready, Marinette?" Adrien asked her once the final bell rang.

Marinette grabbed her backpack. "All set!" she glanced back at Alya as they were leaving the classroom. Alya shot her a thumbs up and a wink.

During lunch, Marinette had called her parents to make sure she had permission to go to Adrien's photoshoot. '_Oh, of course, sweetie! It'll be good for you! Have a good time!_' Sabine had said. She also had informed the girls about Adrien's offer, to which they were shocked she hadn't mentioned it earlier and gushed about how amazing an opportunity it was for her.

Marinette nervously climbed into Adrien's car ahead of him as he gestured for her to go first.

"What makes today's photoshoot so special?" she asked once he got in after her and the car started to move.

"It's Father's Spring Line. Lots of floral prints and pastels. I thought it seemed very much like you, so I arranged it with him to let you come. He even invited you to model with me if you'd be up for that."

She blinked. "M-Me?! Model? With _you_?"

Adrien chuckled. Her flustered expression was always so adorable. "Only if you want to."

Marinette slipped into silence for the rest of their car ride. She kept going back and forth in her mind about whether or not she should model with him or just observe. She looked down inside her purse, Tikki was beaming up at her. _Tikki would say I should seize this opportunity,_ she thought. Although she was extremely nervous, and worried that she'd mess up in front of Adrien, she had to take the chance.

"We're here," Adrien said warmly.

They got out of the car to a beautiful, yet small park along the Seine. From one angle, you saw beautiful shamrock green grass, tall trees whose branches reached out wide to shade the earth below, and lightly colored flowers. From another, the light blue water glistened in the sunlight. It was no wonder this spot was picked, everything was gorgeous.

"I'll model," she said, not meeting his eyes.

"Really?" his face brightened considerably, not that he looked unhappy before. "You will?"

"I'm not really a model, but...why not, right?"  
"I think you're beautiful," Adrien voiced without thinking.

Marinette's breath caught in her throat as she stared at him.

Now it was his turn to be flustered. "I mean, you're really pretty, why couldn't you be a model? Anyway, I'm going to go get changed." He cleared his throat and whisked away to the changing room setup for them, before he said anything else he'd regret.

Marinette stood on the spot, watching him go.

"...Was that just my imagination, Tikki, or did Adrien just call me beautiful?" her shock slowly turned into pure joy, a smile spread across her face.

"He did!" Tikki shrieked, still hidden.

Giggling and fighting the urge to scream, she sat at the base of a tree, trying to put her feelings and excitement to the side. She was not going to embarrass herself here. At least she was going to try to prevent it to the best of her ability.

After she took a few deep breaths, Adrien left the changing room wearing a pastel blue button up, a white t-shirt with the black butterfly logo front and center, pale yellow jeans, and converse that matched his blue overshirt.

Marinette and Adrien switched places, except he remained standing under the tree to prevent getting dirt on his clothes. He watched Marinette go into the dressing room with the clothes an assistant handed her.

"I can't believe I said that to her," he groaned into his hands.

Plagg snickered.

"The only reason I've ever been able to say that to Ladybug is because I was wearing a mask! And she'd just laugh and blow it off. It wouldn't really matter if she was annoyed or whatever, because we're partners and she can't get rid of me. But this-!"

"Don't worry, Adrien, I don't think there's a girl out there that'll hate you for saying she's beautiful. Relax, kid. You're only overthinking it because you like her."

Adrien glanced over towards the changing room. Just in time to see her walk out of the changing room in a dress. The assistant called Adrien over so they could start the shoot, and as he got closer, he noticed the details of her outfit.

A white cami dress with a blue and yellow floral print sprinkled around the garment. It was tied around her waist with a tie made of the same fabric. Her hair was partially down, some of it curtained down to reach her shoulders, but at the crown of her head rested a bun, not unlike the one she wore at the movie premiere.  
Marinette tensed as a makeup artist touched up her face.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Adrien assured as he approached. "It's really nothing special once you've done it enough."

"I'm just afraid my photos won't turn out well and that I'll disappoint your dad….." she clutched her hands to her chin.

He gave her a sympathetic smile and put his hands on her shoulders. "My dad really likes you, you know. He wouldn't have agreed for you to come here and model for him if he didn't! He knows how capable you are, and I do too. I'll be right here to help you if you need me."

Marinette nodded. "Thanks, Adrien."

"Single shots first! Marinette, could we get you over here please?" the assistant Marinette learned was named Rachelle called.

"Coming!"

"I'll be right beside Vincent, so look to me if you need me," Adrien said behind her.

She was brought to the perfect spot, where the scenery and lighting was just so, or so she was told.

"Perfetto! Relax, and imagine you're taking a stroll down a walkway full of beautiful flowers and all you want to do is admire them! Yes, that's it! Hold your hand out as if to pick one up. Yes! Bravo, Marinette, bravo! Now walk slowly towards us, yes, oh!"

Marinette stumbled over her feet and almost fell to the ground, but she caught herself just in time. She looked up, grimacing a little as she caught her foot a bit on the stone beneath her. Adrien hadn't moved, but he had his arm stretched out, as if he could reach her. She flashed a smile and waved her hands out in front of her. "I'm okay! I'm okay!"

"As long as you're sure, Marinette," Rachelle hesitated with her clipboard tightly in hand.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

"Okay, let's try it again!"

Marinette finished her photos with only minor hiccups, then swapped places with Adrien. Rachelle explained to her details and challenges with photoshoots, how much influence and say the designer has over the entire shoot and the models chosen. By the time Adrien was done, she felt very informed.

"Now can we get you two together? Then we'll wrap it up for the day." Rachelle pushed them together, their shoulders bumping into each other.

"Hold hands, please, and pretend you're a couple on a date!" Vincent shouted at them from behind his camera lense.

Adrien took Marinette's hand, and they stood there stiffly.

"No, no, no! Not like that! Re-lax! You're a couple, remember? Love, passion, give it to me!"

_I've held his hand before, no big deal,_ thought Marinette. _I've even kissed him on the cheek and was one slip-up away from confessing my feelings to him! This is nothing...this is nothing..._

_I've held her hand before, so why am I so nervous? I can hold Ladybug's hand no problem. Holding Marinette's should be even easier. This is nothing…this is nothing…_

Their second attempt went much better than the first. As the photos progressed, their nerves and visible tension cleared. Vincent praised how natural they were together as they went through different poses. They were given ice cream to pose with in one, a kite in another, and Rachelle even set up a picnic.

Marinette and Adrien were finishing up their shoot when Marinette spotted a blue-haired boy near Rachelle.

"Luka?" Marinette gasped. She stumbled again, but Adrien caught her before she could do any damage.

"Stop! Who is this boy and what is he doing here?!"

"I'm sorry, Vincent, he's a friend. Can I have a minute?"

Vincent sighed. "Alright, if you must," he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

"I didn't know you were a model, Marinette!"

She laughed. "I'm not, Gabriel Agreste invited me to join today. This is just a one-time thing."

"I don't know, you look really stunning. They'd be crazy not to ask you to model again."

"Luka!" she blushed. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I saw you from the houseboat and I wanted to come say hi...and to maybe ask you out when you're done here?"

"Oh?" Adrien heard Marinette say. He tried really hard to pretend he couldn't hear their conversation and stared down at his feet with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "What for?" she laughed, so carefree and happy, the sound pained him, making him feel almost sick. Adrien knew he should be happy for her, but it crushed him to hear grin in her tone. He walked away, far enough away, not bothering to look back, not wanting to hear more. Luka was a great guy, he had to admit. And that thought had been eating him up inside.

No matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn't seem to stand above Luka.  
They were both nice, both musically talented. But he was free to spend time with her whenever she wanted, whenever he wanted. And he was free to do the things he loves, without interference. That was something Marinette and Luka had in common that he could never relate to.

But worst of all, Luka had already expressed his feelings for her before Adrien could even sort out his own.


	3. Chapter 3

Adrien would probably get in some kind of trouble if Nathalie informed his father that he decided on his own accord that he was done for the day, but he didn't care. There was no way he could go back to posing for the cameras with Marinette, pretending to be together. Pretending. Faking. Acting. When she was just going to leave with Luka. He'd rather not have to witness that.

He also wanted to make sure his emotions didn't get the best of him. He may have been able to avoid getting akumatized so far, but he didn't want to push his luck. Especially not now when Marinette would be put in the middle of it if he was.

Adrien really didn't understand how he would've been okay with this just awhile ago. Yet now he was dealing with that fresh feeling of rejection because of another guy, only a bit different since she didn't actually turn him down. If, and he didn't like it when his mind went here, Marinette was Ladybug, was the boy she talking about Luka?

_"It-it's not what you think. See...I'm really into fashion, and, umm…"_

_"Are you lying?"_

_"No! I'm so not into you—I mean, sure, I'm interested in you, but, um, not in that way; well, you know." _

Adrien sat alone on a park bench overlooking the Seine, thinking about his encounters with her about her feelings - or lack thereof.

_"Chat Noir has every right to be in love with Ladybug. She's very lucky to have you. And just because you and I aren't in love with each other doesn't mean that we can't be friends."_

He leaned his head back to look at the clear blue sky above. "If Marinette is Ladybug, she very clearly doesn't love Chat Noir at all. And she's said she's not interested in Adrien, either."

"Are you sure Marinette wasn't lying about not liking you? Maybe she was just nervous," Plagg offered.

"Marinette doesn't lie," he sighed.

"But if she was scared…?"

"She's always seemed so uncomfortable and... different around me. But she's not around Luka. It's like she comes alive when she's with him. Did you see them at the ice rink?"

The image of Luka appearing at the right time to catch Marinette, helping her tie her skates, and offering his hand to lead her onto the ice flashed in his mind's eye. He and Kagami simply skated around the rink, holding hands. But _them_, they skated like pros! They looked like they were having such a good time with each other….

"Whether Marinette is Ladybug, or not, I know she's interested in Luka. I'm not blind."

"Could've fooled me," Plagg mumbled too low for Adrien to hear. "It's possible to be interested in two people at once. Look at you with Marinette and Ladybug. Or even Ladybug and Kagami, remember? So what if she does like Luka, shouldn't you try and swoop in to take her from him?"

"But what if it's Luka she really wants to be with? He seems to make her happy. I don't want to ruin that and hurt her," he stared down at his hands, not really seeing them.

"There's one thing I'll agree with Kagami about. You need to start doing things for yourself and do what you want to do for once. What harm would it do if you told her how you feel?"

"She could reject me and not want to be friends with me anymore?" he shrugged with an attempt at a half-smile.

"Marinette doesn't seem the type to stop being friends with someone just because they've admitted that they like her. Remember Evillustrator? Nathaniel confessed to her as him, and they're fine."

"Nathaniel was over her after Ladybug saved him, not to mention they're not close friends."

"Ooh? You'd consider you and Marinette close friends, then?"

"She's one of my best friends. And she's the only one I trust to confide in and seek advice about things that are bothering me, even if I can only do so as Chat Noir. I don't want to risk upsetting her and losing that." Adrien stood up, with a determined grunt. "So I've decided that I'm going to wait. If it turns out she's not seeing him, I'll tell her. If she is, I'll step back and leave her be."

"But Adrien…"

"No, Plagg. Above all, I won't lose her. Even if it means I'm just a friend to her."

"Where's Adrien?" Marinette asked Rachelle after looking around the set and not seeing any sign of him.  
"He left for the day," she said. "He didn't look very happy when he left, I'm not sure why," and with a brief shrug, she walked off to help pack up.

"But - But I was going to ask if he wanted to go get something to eat with me…." she muttered to herself. "Do you think he's alright?"

Tikki stuck her head out of the purse. "You should call and ask him!"

Marinette thought it over a moment, then nodded, pulling out her phone and called.

"It went straight to voicemail," she gasped in shock, holding the phone out, not expecting to hear the abrupt voicemail message.

"Maybe he had to leave to take care of something and forgot to turn his phone back on. You can ask him at school tomorrow."

"I don't know, something just doesn't feel right, Tikki…" Marinette was considering transforming into Ladybug to find him. With his phone off and him leaving a photoshoot early without alerting anyone was definitely not very Adrien.

Tikki glanced over and saw Luka sitting in the shade, waiting. "If you've forgotten, there's another boy wanting to spend some time with you."

Marinette's head snapped over to him. He glanced up and gave her a wave.

"Oh, right. Now that the photoshoot's been cut short… Luka!" she called over to him. "You're still here?"

"I thought I'd stick around in case it ended sooner than expected. After Adrien walked off, I thought you'd be free."

Marinette put on a smile, but she was still worried. She wanted more than anything to go and find him now, but between Tikki discouraging her, and Luka waiting for her, she tried her best to put him out of her mind.

"I'll bet you're hungry after today?" asked Luka. "Because I know a really good place to grab a bite."

"Absolutely starving. Thanks, Luka."

The next day at school, Marinette's first priority was checking up on Adrien to see if he was alright. She found him talking with Nino and Kim.

"Adrien!" she called as she rushed up. "Is everything okay? You left so abruptly yesterday, and I couldn't reach you."

He swallowed, then forced a smile. "Just fine. I wasn't feeling well, must've been from being out in the sun too long. I'm alright now, though. Sorry for walking off on you."

"No, it's okay," she said quickly. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Did they get enough photos?"

"Yeah, fortunately they had enough. Rachelle wanted me to tell you that it was a success, and you did a wonderful job."

Her posture relaxed and her expression perked up. "Really? That's such a relief! Could you thank her for me, she taught me so much. As well as your father. And thank you, too, Adrien. I had a really great time!"

He simply nodded. "The photos will be in the next issue of MAGAZINE, if you want to look out for them."

"I definitely will, thanks!"

Adrien turned back to the guys, and Marinette went off to talk to the girls.

"Everything okay, dude?" Nino asked, placing a hand on his buddy's shoulder. "You seem a bit...off."

He shrugged. "I'm okay."

"Did something happen at the shoot? Other than Luka showing up, anyway."

"You know about that?" Adrien asked, trying not to sound too surprised.

"Yeah, Alya told me. Marinette said he showed up. Then when you left, they went out to grab something to eat. I know you told Marinette just now that you're alright, but are you sure? I know you don't enjoy the photoshoots much, but I thought with her there it'd be a bit better."

"Marinette being there made it a million times better. I got tired and restless so I decided to take a walk and spend some time alone, that's all."

"Okay, if you're sure you're alright… don't be afraid to come to me if you need to talk, dude. You've helped me with so much, it's the least I can do for you."

"Thanks. So what did you need help with on the homework again?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Several weeks later_

"Is Adrien okay? Ever since the photoshoot, I feel like something's wrong." Marinette had called Nino over that morning. She was getting seriously worried about Adrien now. His smiles seemed forced whenever he did smile, but most of the time he was quiet and seemed to want to be left alone. "And it's gotten worse since our photos published in MAGAZINE last week. I've asked if there's something wrong, but he just brushes me off. I don't want to push him too much. Have you had any luck?"

Nino removed his cap and shook his head. "I keep trying to let him know I'm there for him, but whatever it is, he just won't open up to me and talk about it."

"Do you think it has something to do with his dad?" she asked anxiously.

"Nah, if it was something about his dad, he'd tell me. That's one thing I do know."

Marinette scratched the back of her neck as she thought. "Maybe he could use some time to hang out with friends? Just you, me, and Alya. Maybe I could ask his dad if he could have some time for that."

He sat down on on Marinette's trunk. "Think he'd agree to that?"

"I think if he'd agree to it at all, it'd be if I asked him. Unfortunately it'll have to be later in the afternoon if at all today, I have plans with Luka this morning."

"You've been spending a lot of time with Luka," he pointed out. "Are you guys together?"

Marinette turned a light shade of pink. "I… I guess so? Not officially, but it feels that way."

Nino smiled, but she noticed there seemed to some sadness behind it. But she didn't question it. "What about Adrien?"

"What about him?"

"Are you over him?"

Marinette opened her mouth but stopped herself. After a few moments, she shook her head. Her eyes didn't meet Nino's. "No, I don't know if I'll ever really be over him. But, as I'm sure Alya's shared with you," she made a face and stuck her tongue out, "I think it's better this way. I can speak to him like a normal person now, have you noticed? It's like when I stopped trying to go after him, I could suddenly form coherent sentences when talking to him. Also, the fact that he told me he was interested in Kagami, I thought it better if I backed off. He has no interest in me, so why try to force it?" her voice went up a couple of octaves as she tried to mask the hurt. "Besides, Luka's great. We get along really well, and if he's happy, then I should be, too."

"Except something's making him miserable. Maybe you're onto something, though. Do you think it could be about Kagami?"

She hadn't thought of that. "I suppose so. I don't see her much, and I try to keep it that way. Since Adrien's so closed off, it could be."

"If he's able to hang out later, I'll ask him about it," said Nino. "If not, we'll try to figure out another way to find out."

They nodded in agreement to each other. Then without another word, he put his cap back on and headed back home to discuss things with Alya.

Later that morning, Marinette approached the Agreste mansion, her nerves getting the best of her. She had to do this, for Adrien. She repeated this whenever she felt her anxiety climb too high, until she rang the doorbell.

"Yes?" she heard Nathalie's monotone voice answer.

"Hi! Um, I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Agreste? It's about Adrien. If he's too busy, would it be possible to discuss it with you instead?"

"...Is everything alright?" Nathalie finally said, her voice starting to fill with concern.

"I'm afraid not," she answered.

"Come in."

The gate clicked and opened, allowing her onto the property. Nathalie waited at the top of the steps for her.

"Unfortunately Mr. Agreste is very busy right now, but please, tell me what's going on with Adrien," Nathalie gestured for her to come in and led her to her office.

"I-Is Adrien home?"

"No, he's at basketball practice. He won't be home for another hour."

She let out a sigh of relief. "I was hoping he wouldn't be. You see, lately Adrien's been really distant and quiet. Something's definitely wrong, but he won't even hint at what's bothering him to any of his friends. And his smiles, whenever he does manage to, they're forced. We're all really worried about him."

Nathalie's business-like expression started to melt away, and concern and worry took its place. "You've noticed it, too?" her voice quiet.

She nodded sadly. "It started that day at the photoshoot, but I can't figure out what happened. It seemed to be going just fine."

Nathalie hummed. "I'll see what Mr. Agreste would like to do about this."

"Actually, Nino and I came up with an idea. We thought it'd be worth a try, anyway, but since we don't know what's wrong, we're not sure if it'll work."

She encouraged her to continue.

"This afternoon, would it be possible for Adrien to meet me, Nino, and our friend Alya at the Ferris Wheel, around 5? I know you'll have to run it by Mr. Agreste first if his schedule is free, but we'll be there waiting for him if he can make it."

"I'll talk to his father. If today won't work, maybe we can try another day. I've been noticing a change in him, but of course, he'd never open up to me about anything. I really appreciate you looking out for him, Marinette. I'm glad he was able to make a friend like you."

"Not at all, I-" she stopped herself. "He's a good person who deserves friends that'll care about him. It's the least I could do," she said as she stood up. "If there's anything I can do to help him, please let me know."

Nathalie got to her feet as well and started heading for the door. "I will, thank you, Marinette."

"What? Why haven't you told me before this?!" Gabriel bellowed.

Nathalie looked at the ground. "I wasn't sure if it was anything to worry about. Other than seeming more reserved and...emotionless," she said the word carefully, a bit concerned at how Gabriel would react. "Which isn't too drastically different from usual, I thought maybe he was just tired or dealing with something at school that would resolve itself. It wasn't until Marinette stopped by today that I knew it was something more than that, sir."

"Hmm," Gabriel tapped his chin as he considered Marinette's suggestion. "I do trust Miss Dupain-Cheng. She's very talented and a very kind girl. Adrien told me she kept him from getting attacked by that swarm of people that were after him when he snuck out of the house to see Emilie's movie…" He was silent, thinking it over carefully. If he was being honest with himself, he had felt an increase of negative emotions coming from his son, he just didn't know how to approach him about it. "Alright. If Adrien would like to go, he may."

"I will let him know about the invitation, sir."

"Please tell him I want to see him tonight as well."

Nathalie bowed her head. "Of course, sir."

"You know what, Plagg, I'm going to get Marinette's opinion on what I should do. Maybe if she doesn't know it's about her, she can help me figure out what I should do. I don't know how much longer I can take this," he bursted out after pacing around his room.

"That's a step in the right direction, anyway," Plagg muttered between bites of Camembert.

"Plagg, claws-"

"WAIT!" the Kwami screamed. "I'm not yet done with my Camembert!"

Just then he heard a low knock on his door and Nathalie walked in. "I have some things to inform you about."

Adrien tensed, partially because he was nearly busted, partially waiting for bad news since Nathalie's visits usually didn't mean something he thought was pleasant was going on..

"One of your classmates came by earlier and asked if you would like to spend some time with some of your friends this evening and your father is allowing you to go."

His head tilted to the side. "Someone came by to ask if I could hang out? And father _agreed_? Who was it?"

"It was Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"...Marinette?" Marinette. Of course, what couldn't she do?

"She's really concerned about you. She's noticed how sad you've seemed lately and wanted to try to help. So she arranged it for you to spend time with her, and your friends Nino and Alya."  
For the first time in weeks, Adrien felt the empty darkness that's been taking control over him ease its grip a little.

"Would you like to go?"

Marinette went out of her way for him. Having a chat with her as Chat Noir could wait. "Yes, I would. Thank you, Nathalie. And thank Father for me, too."

She nodded once, her usual blank expression was altered slightly by the corners of her mouth twitching. "Your father would like to see you when you return."

Adrien waited for Nathalie to leave. "I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer to visit Marinette as Chat Noir, Plagg."

"Maybe you won't even need to after today!"

"Maybe…" he agreed halfheartedly. Although it was wonderful for her to arrange to spend the day together, this was very much Marinette, wanting to help out a friend who needed it. Nothing more than that. At least, that's what he told himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Waiting around for Adrien at the foot of the Ferris Wheel made the three friends very nervous. None of them spoke, but exchanged looks with each other, and each look expressed enough to know what they were thinking:

Would he be allowed to come?  
Would he want to if he's been given permission?  
And if he does come, will it help or just make matters worse?

Only a couple of minutes past 5, Adrien was dropped off by his bodyguard. The second they saw him, all three got on their feet, and Marinette, along with Nino, rushed up to him.

"Buddy, you made it!" he exclaimed with a hearty laugh.

Marinette was so ecstatic and relieved, she was absolutely beaming. "I'm so glad you came, Adrien!"

He turned to Marinette, a genuine smile spread across his face. "Thank you for going out of your way to set this up, including coming by the house and asking for permission. I bet that wasn't very pleasant."

"Of course, I don't like seeing you unhappy," she gently grabbed his arm. "And Nathalie was very willing to talk to me and help you. I thought one of the things you may want to do is ride the Ferris Wheel with us for real this time, not just through a screen."

"You were right, I've never ridden it before," he said sheepishly.

"No time like the present, Agreste!" Alya shouted, grabbing Nino and Marinette's arms, and pulled them along. Marinette hadn't let go of Adriens, so the four with their arms interlocked, set off to ride the Ferris Wheel.

They saw landmarks all four had been to as their superhero personas quite recently, but none had been as their civilian selves in a long time, or at all. Marinette suggested visiting them together once they were done on the Ferris Wheel.

From landmark to landmark they went, stopping along the way at little shops or to sightsee what else the Parisian streets had to offer. Adrien's heart lightened with every passing experience, and he felt himself enjoying himself, his worries forgotten.  
His friends stopped anxiously checking to make sure he was okay. Things felt pretty normal, as if the past few weeks hadn't happened. After they got off the Ferris Wheel, Nino had carefully asked him if he was having issues with Kagami. Adrien looked thoroughly confused and asked why he was bringing her up. Nino just brushed it off and gave Marinette a shrug and shook his head, and their fun day continued on.

But like all good things, the day was finally drawing to an end. He really didn't want to leave them, but he was going to be picked up in 20 minutes. The only thing that made him okay with the idea was that as soon as his father no longer needed him, he'd be back out into the bustling city to pay Marinette a visit.

Let's go stop over there and get some souvenirs," Alya suggested, pointing to a little cart covered in trinkets that were especially for foreign tourists.

"Cool," Adrien said. They surrounded the cart, the girls talked about how cute some of the trinkets were. Tiny Eiffel Towers, Arc de Triomphe's, and charms in the shapes of Paris's finest patisserie hung up for them to admire.

"Let's get these!" Marinette gushed, holding up croissant and Eiffel Tower charms.

"AHAHA I SEE YOUR FUTURE, AND IT IS BLEAK!" shrieked a woman's voice. Screams erupted from the nearby cart.

The teens heads snapped to the source of the commotion.

"Uh, Nino and I are going to go find a safe place to film this from," she grabbed Nino's hand and tugged, not allowing him a chance to protest.

Marinette and Adrien stared in shock as they left, and were left totally alone together.  
They were both trying to figure out a way to leave the other alone to transform.

"Um… I think I'm going to go back to the cafe, I left my phone and my mom will no doubt call me to see if I'm okay."

"Good idea. I'll wait here for you."

Marinette looked him over a moment then nodded. "Be careful!" she called back as she was running away.

"Alright Tikki, spots on!" she cried the moment she found a secluded spot.

Chat Noir was already on the scene when she arrived.

"Someone's a little upset at being called a fraud," he laughed.

"I am NOT," the akuma roared.

"You can't see the future," he tsked, shaking his head. "Not without magic."

"But now I have some, don't I, Kitty?!" she purred. "Oooh look at the crystal ball, darling. Your future is filled with absolute darkness, befitting of the suit you wear! Would you like to see?" The akuma held out her crystal ball for Chat Noir with a twisted expression, he suddenly froze as his eyes locked on it.

"No!" Ladybug screamed, throwing her yo-yo at him and pulling him to her. "Are you okay?" she asked when he was safely by her side.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered. "I'm okay. Now we know where the akuma is, anyway."

"Lucky Charm!" she called, and a magnet fell into her hands. Wordlessly, she looked around, and with unease, she turned to her partner.

"I'm afraid I need you to keep her occupied with that crystal ball."

At first he was eager enough to do it, until Ladybug's expression clued him in on what she meant. He was going to have to look into her crystal ball long enough for Ladybug to get it off of her.

"Oh, okay," he said weakly. "I can do that." He hadn't seen much, but he knew that the akuma wasn't lying when she said his future didn't look very bright.

"I'm sorry, Chat Noir."

"Don't worry. Just let me know when."

She moved a few feet to the left, and gave a swift nod. Chat Noir approached the akuma.  
"I think you're onto something about this seeing the future stuff."

"D'you want to see more of your future? I may not know the events, but I can promise you, they won't be pretty," she cooed dangerously.

"Hit me with your best shot, Fortuness," Chat Noir said with a straight face.

With a contented sigh, Fortuness waved her hand over her crystal ball. Chat, having closed his eyes to prepare himself, opened them slowly. The ball itself didn't play the future scenes, but it came into his mind's eye in a sudden montage of flashes.

_Marinette telling Adrien that she was dating Luka._

_Chat Noir accidentally seeing Ladybug detransform._

_Adrien removing his Miraculous and handing it over to Master Fu._

_Watching years go by, growing lonely and lonelier, with no sight of any of his friends. Struggling._

_Ladybug with a new Chat Noir to save the day._

_His father succumbing to madness without his mother, and he wondered if he was headed on the same path._

_Alone, completely alone, in his enormous mansion. No father. No Nathalie. No Bodyguard. No Plagg. No Marinette._

_News about Marinette's engagement. News about her wedding. News that she was welcoming a child into the world. And another. _

_Seeing her with her family for the first time. Years since he had seen her. Pain of the worst kind, pain that felt like he was being crushed, overwhelmed him, suffocating him. A black butterfly approaching. A cold, twisted voice ringing in his head that he couldn't fight. A glimpse of what he would become in a window's reflection…_

"NOOOOOO!" he screamed loudly, echoing down the street in a haunting tone. Tears streamed down his face.

Ladybug got close enough to use the magnet on the crystal ball's metal base. She tossed the ball, once it was in her hands, with glass end down, and it shattered everywhere, exposing the akuma.

She swung her yo-yo with one fluid flick of her wrist, capturing the butterfly and releasing it again. After tossing the magnet in the air and fixing all the damage that had been done, she rushed to Chat Noir's side, who was sobbing uncontrollably.

"K-Kitty…?" she crouched down in front of him, her hand rested on his shoulder. Her bluebell eyes were wide with alarm "Chat... I -"  
She gasped when Chat Noir suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, his crying continuing on. She could feel him shaking as she wrapped hers around his back.

"Shhh, please," he breathed. "I-I'm not ready… I'm not ready to let go. Please," he begged her. "Please."

Ladybug didn't say anything, but hugged him a bit tighter.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm so sorry, Chat Noir, I shouldn't have made you do that, I'm so sorry," she whispered quietly.

She felt him shake his head. Her earrings began to beep after a minute, but she didn't loosen her hug.

"Your e-earrings," he sniffled. "You need to go."

"I can stay another minute," she said softly. But he broke away from her.

"No, you shouldn't cut it too close. I'm not worth that."

She started to protest, but he stopped her. "I'll be fine," he lied, wiping his cheek with the back of his arm. "Don't worry."

"Don't worry? How can I not? Chat -"

"Ladybug, go," he insisted. She looked very hesitant to leave, but she did as he wanted.

Alya and Nino had helped the woman who had been akumatized, both of their focus now switched to Chat Noir. He sniffed and wiped his face again, clearing his throat.

"Thanks," he mumbled to them and left the scene without another glance back.

"Adrien!" Plagg started immediately after detransforming. "Please, don't tell me you're serious! That - that might not have even been your future!"

He didn't look Plagg in the eyes and turned his head away. He opened his shirt for Plagg to hide, but said nothing.

"Adrien…" he whispered, his tiny shoulders slumping. "I'm so sorry, kid…."


	6. Chapter 6

Adrien went back to his friends, his good mood gone. But he hid his pain and his fear well. Just a bit longer, he thought to himself. When he was home again, he could let it all out. He just needed to get past his friends and his father.

Marinette could sense something had changed in Adrien again when he met up with him again before he left, and she thought his eyes looked a bit red, but the sun was setting so she couldn't be sure if she was seeing it properly.

An hour later, Adrien had left his father's office. He was asked if he was doing alright, so he put up his best front and told him that everything was great. Gabriel had grunted in disapproval, maybe he could tell he was lying, but it didn't matter as he wasn't pressed further.

His bedroom door shut behind him, the sound echoing around his large room.

"Are you going to see Marinette now?"

Adrien shook his head. "She's going to end up with Luka. There's no point now."

"But she's Ladybug, and you're Chat Noir. I'm telling you, that means something."

He didn't comment.

"Transform. Think about going to see her."

"I was going to transform anyway," he blurted out. "It's easier to deal with everything when I'm Chat Noir. Plagg, claws out!"

He looked up out his window, the sky almost completely dark, and with a sigh, he catapulted out into the fresh air.

"Tikki, what have I done? I never should have used Chat Noir as a distraction like that. I knew it bothered him the first time, and yet I had him look into the crystal ball again! Who knows what he saw, but to see carefree, happy, and goofy Chat Noir brought to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably was probably the worst thing I've ever seen. It's going to haunt me."

"You did what needed to be done to fight the akuma, Marinette, it's all you can do."

Marinette was pacing her room. She shook her head vigorously. "But my way of handling it didn't have to hurt him. There had to have been another way! If only I would've tried to find some other way..."

_"I-I'm not ready… I'm not ready to let go. Please."_ The words echoed in her mind, over and over. She felt his arms grip around her like a vice, out of desperation.

"There's no use thinking about what you should've done differently," Tikki said wisely, "but instead you can try to figure out how to help him.

"Do you think Chat Noir would come by to look for me, like he did last time when he was having issues about Ladybug?"

"You never know! I think there's a good chance of it."

The corners of Marinette's mouth went up very slightly. She rushed up the steps to her bed and out the trap door to wait on the balcony.

Just when she was about to head inside for the night, she caught a glimpse of the usually exuberant superhero, who looked as if all the energy had been drained for him. She thought he was on his way to see her, as he came closer and closer to her house. But then he stopped.  
Puzzled, she squinted her eyes into the dark night to try to see him better, but he wasn't looking in her direction.  
For some reason, she got the feeling like she shouldn't be seen watching him and took a seat in her chair, just out of his line of sight.. Every few seconds, she'd take a peek, and she noticed he looked like he was debating with himself. At times, he was closer, other times further away. Was he really trying to figure out if he should talk with her or not?

_Please, come talk to me._ Marinette repeated over and over in her head.

But when she looked again, Chat Noir was taking off in the opposite direction, and he didn't show up again.

Time passed. Adrien was continuing to be distant, keeping to himself even more than he had before. Alya and Nino were very confused, as he seemed to be like the old Adrien just before Fortuness got akumatized only worse. He was even more closed off than he had been. Even Marinette couldn't get him to talk, and actually, her presence stirred something in him that brought out a side to him they had never seen.

He was detached, cold, and it was as if all his effort was put into remaining polite when he had to speak or look at her. Sometimes it appeared as if he was going to start yelling.

One afternoon, Luka came by the classroom to look for Marinette. School had just let out, but most of the class still remained hanging around.

"Are you ready?" Luka asked gently, a warm smile spread across his face.

"Ready for what?" Adrien asked abruptly in a cold tone, startling Marinette and catching Luka by surprise.

"Oh, hey Adrien! I'm taking Marinette to an event Jagged Stone is hosting. She's been asked to work on some projects for him and I'm helping her out, so Jagged invited us along."

Adrien just stared without speaking, not appearing to have registered Luka's words. When they were about to head out of the classroom, Adrien stood up from his seat and went to Marinette's side. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, his voice low.

She nodded and glanced at Luka.  
"I'll meet you outside," he said, his smile never wavering.

Adrien waited to speak until he was out of sight. "You and Luka?"

Marinette searched his expression. She couldn't quite figure it out. Adrien looked like he already knew the answer to that question but just wanted confirmation. His jaw was set, his eyes never meeting hers, and they trailed up and down as he waited for her to speak.

"Luka and I...we're together," she admitted. It felt really strange for her to be telling Adrien this. They were friends, yes, but it hurt to tell him. It was like her words were covered with needles, and as they escaped her heart, hundreds of those tiny needles were stabbing it, causing it to throb.

Adrien let out a quick breath, his eyes closed in concentration. "That's really great, Marinette. I'm happy for you," he forced out. She could tell he was trying to sound genuine, but he couldn't pull it off. Marinette knew perfectly well why it hurt her to admit this to him, but why was Adrien reacting like this? Had something happened to him and having to hear about this just annoyed him?

"Adrien -" she started. He answered her with a strained smile. "Have fun. I have to be heading home now. Later."

Luka came back in once Adrien had left. "Is everything okay with him?"

Marinette was anxiously staring at the doorway. "No, it's not."  
He sat down by Marinette, putting his arm around her. "Do you want to go and talk with him?"

"I do, but I'm afraid he won't talk to me about what's wrong. He's not talking to anyone much lately, and believe me, Nino, Alya, and I have all tried."

"Oh, I see," Luka's brow furrowed, he glanced at the doorway as well.

"I'm ready to go," she broke Luka away from his thoughts. "I still have to run by my house first to pick everything up, so we have to hurry if we're going to make it in time!"

"Ah, right, lead the way!"


	7. Chapter 7

"It's like a checklist I have to get through," grumbled Adrien at his locker. "Just waiting for the next horrible event to happen to check another one off the list."

"You can change things! Just because you saw something happen, doesn't mean it has to have the worst possible scenario attached to it." Plagg offered. "For instance, just because you discover who Ladybug is, it doesn't mean you have to give up being Chat Noir."

"But I do, Plagg, I really do," he sat down on the empty bench. "Once she knows I know, it's like I'm breaking her trust. I'm going to put her in danger. That's why she and Master Fu are so adamantly against us knowing about each other. What other alternatives do I have? Hope for the best that Hawk Moth won't get her identity out of me? I can't do that to her. Marinette deserves better."

"You could talk about it with her. Let her know what's going on and you can decide what's best together. I know the thought of you giving up being Chat Noir wouldn't even cross her mind."

"And that's precisely why! That's not the kind of choice a good superhero makes!" Adrien's boomed a little too loudly. Plagg shrunk back nervously. "She'd put herself in danger for me and I can't allow her to do that! I can't even put her into the position to choose."

Plagg sighed. "Fine. Don't listen to reason. Have fun at fencing practice."

Adrien watched him phase through his locker. No doubt to go sulk with a couple of wheels of Camembert. He felt bad. He didn't _want_ to give up his powers and the only real freedom he had. He didn't want to give up the only friend he always had by his side. And he certainly didn't want to give up Ladybug - or more accurately, Marinette - but no matter how he looked at it, there was no other way. He couldn't have it all, and he wasn't going to sacrifice her or her friends and family being in harm's way because of his selfishness. She was too important for that.

The next day, Marinette sat under the tree that she visited during the photo shoot. It was quiet and calm in the cool shade under the canopy. She could hear the water sloshing around the bank of the Seine, the birds chirping, and the sound of the branches swaying in the wind. It was absolutely beautiful and oh so very peaceful. But she didn't think twice about any of it.

Right now, her mind was on the photoshoot. That was the turning point when everything went wrong. Something had happened that made him walk away from the shoot, something he never would do, as it was guaranteed to upset his father.

"Who all was there at the shoot that day?" Marinette muttered. There was her, Adrien, Rachelle, the makeup artist, and three or four other members of the crew she didn't know the names of.

"Luka showed up," Tikki said. "Just before he left the shoot."

"But it couldn't have been because of him. Luka and Adrien have always gotten along."

Tikki sighed sadly, the noise unheard by Marinette.

"I'm going to try to text him again and see if he replies this time," she said as she fished her phone out of her bag.

"Good idea."

**Marinette [4:18 PM]:** Please talk to me, Adrien? I know something happened at the shoot that upset you and I want to help you if you're dealing with something.  
**Marinette [4:25 PM]:** It's not because of me, is it? Did I do something wrong during the shoot? Is it that you're mad at me? Because if I did and you are, I'm so sorry Adrien! Whatever it is, I'll try my best to fix it. Please, please answer after you've read this. We're really worried about you.

Adrien took his phone out of his pocket as he fell back on his bed. He let out a heavy sigh.  
"She thinks it's her fault. She thinks I'm _mad at her_. I hate that she jumps to that conclusion. It's me! Not her..."

"Well kid, you're angry, and it does have to do with her. What do you expect? You know how perceptive Marinette is." Plagg was across the room eating cheese, still semi-pouting.

He sighed and wordlessly tapped out a response.  
**Adrien [4:36 PM]:** I'm not mad at you, Marinette! And you didn't do anything wrong at the shoot. I'm just dealing with some things, that's all. It's okay though, I'm dealing with them.

"You didn't answer her question asking if it's because of her." Plagg had floated behind him to read his texts over his shoulder.

"You're right, it does have to do with her. But it's not her fault and I don't want her to get the idea that it is," he grumbled. "I don't think she's going to let this go until she knows I'm fine. And I won't be fine. Marinette never gives up when someone she cares about is upset and Ladybug is able to figure things out too well. I can't have her making all the wrong decisions that'll hurt her just so I don't have to lose her as quickly."

"So what are you going to do?"

Adrien leaned his head back, looking up at his ceiling for a few moments.

"We're going to set everything in motion."

"You mean…?"

Adrien sucked in a shaky breath. "Next Akuma attack. I'm going to purposefully watch her detransform, where she can see that I've seen everything so there are no excuses or trying to reason out of it."

"But Adrien!" Plagg protested. "This is crazy!"

"It's not," he said with a shake of his head. "I'd rather not delay the inevitable. It's just too hard, Plagg. Knowing that my time with her and my time with you is so limited. I'd rather cut it off cleanly here."

"But Adrien…" this time his voice was shaking, a hint of desperation rang through it. "Please, think about what you're doing. It doesn't have to be this way. I've been trying to tell you this, sometimes things aren't as they seem."

"Ever since I looked into Fortuness's crystal ball and saw Ladybug's identity and saw her with Luka. Both have been proven true, the rest will follow. This was already set. There's no going back from it."

Plagg waited until Adrien was asleep, which ended up being way later than he hoped for. The poor kid kept tossing and turning until his sleep deprivation over the past few days caught up with him.

The Kwami rushed out the window, flying through the night sky the short distance from Adrien's bedroom to Marinette's balcony. He hesitated outside the trap door, wondering if he should wait until Tikki woke up or to wake her up now.

After mumbling each one to himself a couple of times, he decided he'd take any wraith Tikki gave him by waking her up now.

Plagg entered Marinette's room. She was peacefully curled up, asleep, with a small smile on her lips. Tikki was curled up on her hip.

"Psst, Sugarcube!" he whispered, gently prodding her. "Wake up!"

Tikki's blue eyes popped open. "Plagg?"

"Shhh!" he held a paw over his mouth. "Outside," he whispered, pointing upwards.

They floated onto the balcony together.

"What's wrong?" she asked him the moment they were out in the fresh air.

"It's Chat Noir! He - he's going to give everything up!" he cried. "I can't convince him not to, thanks to Fortuness's stupid visions!"

"Okay, Plagg, slow down. What happened?"

"Well… Adrien saw that Marinette is Ladybug in the crystal ball, and because of that, he knows that he's going to have to give up being Chat Noir. So he's planning to expose this to her soon. He said to cut things off cleanly. I don't know what else he's planning, but there's something more pressing, at least for him."

"Go on."

"He…," Plagg's eyes drifted to the side and his little shoulders slumped. "He saw everything in Marinette's future," he breathed. "He saw that he doesn't have a future with her. But she does with someone he knows, someone he's friends with... and it's crushed him. He has a miserable future, Tikki, and I'm terrified for him."

"Oh! Well, I can warn her about Chat Noir giving up his Miraculous, but I can't tell her the rest," her eyes had grown anxious. "If I told her Chat Noir knows who she is, she'd panic and make the situation worse. Any chance there is of him being talked out of it will only be if she doesn't know until that moment. As far as the rest of it goes… I've been trying to convince her not to give up on Adrien, but she's so selfless, she thinks that it's best for him to take a step back and let him be with the one he loves. I can't tell her that that girl is her! She wouldn't believe me, and of course, I can't tell her Adrien is Chat Noir."

Plagg groaned. "Why did Master Fu have this rule again?"

"A previous Ladybug and Chat Noir, remember? We never should've told Master Fu that story!"

"Oh. Yeah," Plagg shuddered. "I've tried blocking that from my memory…"

Tikki looked down at sleeping Marinette below, so unaware, lost in her sweet dreams. "We'll have to try to change their future. Marinette and Adrien deserve better than this."

"I'm with you, Sugarcube! But we better think fast, somehow I don't think Hawk Moth's going to hold out on us today."


	8. Chapter 8

Plagg was right on about the akuma. Hawk Moth decided to unleash one mid-morning, shortly after Adrien was settled in school.

"Adrien…!" Plagg's raised voice cried as the bathroom door shut behind him.

"Thank you for everything, Plagg."

"No, Adrien, you are _not_ saying your goodbye now!" he hissed. "I won't accept it!"

Adrien clenched his jaw a moment, a hardened gaze set on his face. Then he abruptly broke eye contact and glanced down. "I'm sorry. Plagg, claws out!"

"Adrien, no-!"

Chat Noir slipped out of the bathroom and ran outside to join up with Ladybug.

"Kitty," Ladybug breathed with a grin on her face when he showed up beside her. "Can we talk after we handle this akuma?"

He side-glanced her with a faint smile on his face. "I was planning on a chat, m'lady."

Ladybug sighed with relief, and during the entire attack and defeat, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Meanwhile, a massive weight was on his.

To Chat's advantage though, she had used her Lucky Charm fairly early, and her earrings were just about to beep its last before her detransformation. Assuming things would be like usual when they planned to meet after an attack but needed to go off to recharge first, she wasn't checking to make sure Chat hadn't followed her. Marinette's eyes grew wide with horror as she saw his shadow and backed herself up against the wall upon seeing him lurking behind her.

"Chat, what- what do you think you're-?!"

"I know.I- I already knew before this. Fortuness's crystal ball showed me, though I thought I accidentally saw you... But I had to do this and be the one to really break the rule that forbids us from finding out."

"But why?" She asked weakly, her eyes glowing with tears. "Why didn't you come talk to me about this?" Then she stopped herself. "...Was that why you were near my house last night?"

Chat remained silent.

It began to dawn on her why he was so adamant about breaking Master Fu's rule. "You...you're planning on giving back your Miraculous," betrayal, pain, and grief struck her, washing over her features. Her eyes began to well up. "No...Chat, no! Please, I-…!"

"The things I saw in that crystal have already started coming true," he interrupted her. "This is just one of them. But I'm not doing this because of that. I'm doing this because I know your secret. By knowing your secret, your life, your friends' lives, and your family's lives are in my hands. All of Paris knows how easy it is to control me once I get hit by an akuma's blast," he laughed without humor. "I'm a liability. I'm not to be trusted. And you need a partner that can give you security, who will make better choices than I can, and won't cause so much trouble. Things will be better this way." He forced out that last line through gritted teeth. "You were right, I never should've wished so hard to find out who you are."

"But I don't know if I can continue saving Paris without you," she shook her head as she looked down at her feet, "You always know what to say when I'm doubting myself or scared. I rely...so much on you for that support to keep going..."

Chat stepped forward, reaching out to touch her face and wipe the tears away. "Someone else will step up to give it to you. I've seen it. See, I'm replaceable. What I do can be done by so many others. But you, Marinette, you're one in a _billion_. What you do, who you are, can't be replaced. Paris and the world need you, and I have to sacrifice myself in order for the world to keep you."

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders tightly.

"You're wrong, you know. You've always worried and thought you could be replaced, but you can't," her voice trembled into his chest. "Nobody can replace you. Please…"  
He slowly let her go and pulled away, his eyes instantly drawn to hers. He immersed himself into the most beautiful shade of blue he had ever had the pleasure of witnessing for a few moments, debating whether he should say anything more. But there was really nothing more to say, nothing would make any difference, anyway.

Chat Noir turned suddenly and jumped up onto the rooftops and out of sight, taking Marinette by surprise. "Chat, _no_!" she screamed after him. "Tikki…!" she cried urgently.

"I'm almost done!" she munched quickly on her last remaining bite. "Ready!"

"Tikki, spots on!"  
She raced after him, but once she got onto the roof, she couldn't see him anywhere. Anxious and desperate, she spun around, looking in every direction, but there was no sign of the black cat hero.

"Where would he go, where would he go…?" she tapped her right foot as she tried to calm down enough to think. She sucked in a breath. "Of course, Master's!"

She reached Master Fu's shop in 30 seconds flat, but by the time she barrelled inside, the old man was consoling a little black Kwami.

"Plagg? Where's Chat? I need to go tell him this is crazy and bring him back!"

"Marinette… Chat Noir did the right thing. He knows who you are," Master Fu stood on his feet and approached her. "It's dangerous for him to continue now. You know the rule."

"But I don't care, Master. I'd rather be at risk than to lose him!"

"I understand. But you are not thinking clearly. You're letting your heart cloud your judgment."

Marinette went and sat down on her knees by Plagg. "Everything in me is screaming this is wrong. Not just my heart. I _need_ him. Please, you have to tell me where I can find him."

Master Fu just shook his head.

"Plagg…?" she turned to him. "You'll tell me, right?"

"I'm sorry, Marinette. I'd love to tell you so you can go knock some sense into him, but that magic I'm under prohibits me from speaking his name."

Tikki joined Plagg. "I'm sorry, Marinette. We were trying to figure out a way to stop him from doing this, but we were too late."

"You... knew?"

The Kwami's spared a glance at each other before nodding their heads.

"He knew if you found out what was going on, you'd find a way to stop him and you'd be in danger if you continued on. So I went along with it, hoping he'd change his mind. But by the time I realized he wouldn't let it go and went to Tikki to figure out a plan, it was past time that something could be done... If only Hawk Moth had struck later in the day…."

"No.. no, this is all my fault. I'm responsible for this," Marinette said firmly, getting back on her feet, her hands balled into tight fists. "I never should've had him look into the stupid crystal ball to distract herl. If he hadn't seen his future-"

"Actually," Plagg spoke up. "He was struggling with things before he even saw inside that crystal ball."

"That may be so…" her heart sunk a little. "But that alone wouldn't have led to him giving up his Miraculous. It's because that crystal ball showed him seeing me detransform. And who knows what all else! I could've helped him with whatever's been going on and we could've worked things out. Unless one of you will tell me who Chat Noir is now..." Marinette looked at each one of them, a bit of hope still rising in her heart, but all three were firm on not divulging that information. A feeling of loneliness washed over her as she started to shake.

"Fine. I guess I'll have to find him on my own," Marinette said with a determined flash of her eyes, then turned and left, only allowing Tikki to give Master Fu and Plagg a concerned glance before buzzing out after her.


	9. Chapter 9

Adrien peeked out from the building next door and watched Marinette rush out of Master Fu's place, looking extremely upset.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," he whispered, his dark hood over his head and his hands deep in his pockets.

This was his last day of freedom. He wasn't going to have Plagg to confide in anymore. He was going to go to his father once he returned home and ask to be removed from school. He just couldn't stand the thought of having to pretend to his friends that everything was fine while he watched the love of his life end up in another guy's arms, seeing her sit behind him day after day. It was more that difficult to bear, it was dangerous to deal with such things with Hawk Moth around. So his decision was made.

But first, Adrien was going to spend the following couple of hours of peace venting everything that he could.  
He made sure to find a spot away from people, where Ladybug would never be able to see him. It was out of the usual bounds of akuma attacks and patrols, which also put him at a great distance from home. He climbed up the first building that allowed it and stood on the roof, enjoying the view of the Parisian rooftops for the last time.

Adrien screamed at the top of his lungs, kicked the ground when his temper spiked, and then when all his rage had finally left him, he sunk to the ground, having broken down into choked, racking sobs. Whenever he thought he had finally cried himself out, a terrible thought pierced through and tried clawing its way out. She'd never be his. She was never meant to be, and how he was doomed to carry that love and pain with him for the rest of his life.

Control it. The thought came up, urging him to get on his feet and control his despair. He had to get it under control and head home. Adrien was not up for a lecture, and the sun was getting dangerously low.

He slowly rose and with his head down, headed for the mansion.

Ladybug searched the city over, though she didn't have a clue who exactly she was looking for. Chat Noir was no longer Chat Noir. He was just…  
She shook her head. He will always be Chat Noir. With or without the costume. But how was she going to find someone she's never seen before?

He must have blond hair, she concluded. He had blond hair as both Chat Noir and as Mister Bug for a reason, right? So she searched for blond teenage boys. She hoped that one of them would give her that _Chat look_ that was so full of love and warmth, and just _know_ somehow that it was him, her precious Kitty. But everyone she approached reacted the same way: in awe of her celebrity status and that she was actually speaking to them.

It was just past sunset when she unwillingly made her way home. She knew her parents were likely worried about her by now, but that was an easy situation to solve. This was more important. She'd have stayed out searching all night if she knew it'd do any good. But he was probably already home.

Marinette hadn't slept that night, not even for a few moments. Her mind wouldn't stop screaming at her that her partner had given up. Her rock, her beacon of light, the reason she was able to continue being Ladybug and not give up herself. _Her best friend_.

And it was all her fault.

She stumbled into her classroom that morning with dark circles under her eyes. Her friends tried asking her what was wrong as she took her seat, but she mostly just heard it as noise and tuned them out. She had never been so exhausted, yet so unable to sleep before.

Suddenly she could make out "Adrien" among the chatter in the classroom. She hadn't noticed that he was already seated in front of her. She tried to pay attention to what was being said, but she was so tired…

"What are you saying, Adrien?" she heard Nino's voice say. She had her head resting nicely on her desk and didn't care enough to move it to see him.

"I decided attending school just isn't for me, Nino. It's too much work to juggle this and everything my father wants me to do."

Wait what? Had she heard that right? She lifted her head up off the desk.

"I'm sorry, dude. I've already talked it over with my father. Today's my last day."

Marinette felt her heart drop into her stomach. This couldn't possibly be real. Adrien _loved_ school. She always thought it was a little unusual when herself and her friends dreaded the hours spent there at times while he eagerly came to school each morning, but then again, she had never been isolated like he had.

She had to say something, something was clearly very wrong.

"Adrien, what do you mean you're leaving?" she asked, expecting him to respond like he used to. Or at least acknowledge that she spoke. He made no move to let her know he had heard her. "Adrien," she repeated. "What's wrong? It's not like you to want to leave school."

Again, he pretended as if she hadn't spoken.

"Dude," Nino smacked him on the arm. "Marinette's trying to talk to you. Why are you ignoring her?"

Adrien glanced at him out the corner of his eye and so very subtly shook his head.

Every attempt Marinette made to talk with Adrien about it throughout the school day, he managed to slip his way out of it. He never once looked her in the eye and said as little to her as he could get away with.

When school was over, he kept his head down and left as soon as he was allowed. Marinette chased after him. "Adrien. Adrien! Adrien, please stop, I just want to talk!" But her cries weren't being listened to. He didn't slow down, stop, or say anything to indicate he even heard her. Marinette let out an exasperated groan and pushed herself through her exhaustion to go faster.

Finally, she managed to catch him on the stairs, just outside of the school building. She grasped onto his arm, stopping him in his tracks. He stiffened, but still kept his back towards her.

"Why Adrien? I don't understand what's going on. I want to help you. Please," she breathed. Clouds were rolling in, blocking the sun. Adrien's vividly blond hair dimmed.

"There's nothing to help. I made this decision on my own," he said with a shrug, sensing she was going to ask if it had anything to do with his father. "It's for the best. I'm just not cut out for school. Anyway, I've got somewhere to be and I'm going to be late. Thanks though," he turned his head, just enough so he got a glimpse of her, then bounded down the steps and into his bodyguard's car. She stood there watching them drive away - a bit startled at how cool his tone was mixed with what he said - until the rain reminded her to head for home.

Later that night, Marinette stared at her phone, his contact info open and all her messages to him, marked read, but never replied to, glared back at her.  
It had been 20 minutes, and she was still going back and forth on whether or not to reach out to him again. He already knew that she wanted to know what was wrong, so she'd have to send something else.

Marinette grabbed it from her desk and started typing. Then erased midway. Then typed again. Pondering it a moment, she erased that too and for a third time, was satisfied with what she wrote and pressed send. She wasn't expecting a response back, but she needed him to read it. That'd be enough.

Adrien was curled up on his bed, staring out his windows. For the fifth time since he got home, he had just started talking to Plagg before remembering he gave him up. That reminded him that Plagg had a huge stash of Camembert still left in his special cupboard. With a long sigh, Adrien got off his bed to go put them in a bag to deliver to Master Fu's in the morning. He wasn't sure how he'd manage sneaking out now that he wasn't Chat Noir, but he'd try to find a way. Plagg deserved it and more. Maybe Gorilla would give him a ride to the park nearby for a bit if he convinced him?

Halfway through chucking the cheese containers into the bag, his phone pinged. He almost decided to ignore it, but that conflict not to ignore a friend reaching out raged inside. Adrien finished shoveling the cheese in and went to his phone.

It was from Marinette. His heart fluttered, then fell as he read her text message.

**I know you don't want to talk, and I know you don't want to tell me what's going on. And that's okay, Adrien. I just wanted to remind you that I'll always be here if you need a friend. Class is going to be a lot emptier without you there, we'll miss you.**

Adrien left out a pained laugh. "That's m'lady," he sniffed, rubbing his eye. "I'm so sorry I failed you."


	10. Chapter 10

"Adrien!" Plagg exclaimed as the blond boy walked through Master Fu's door. "Did you change your mind?"

Adrien shook his head. "I uh… I remembered your cheese stash in my room and wanted to return them to you. I got a few extra, to thank you for everything."

Plagg's ears drooped. That was the first time he can ever remember being sad getting cheese. "Marinette was really angry with us when she was here yesterday. She's determined to find you."

"I don't doubt it," he said, almost proud.

Master Fu cleared his throat. "You know, Adrien, I would be more than happy to give you your Miraculous back if you wish."

"Thanks, Master, but you know I can't do that. If anything happened to her or Paris because I decided to selfishly take it back… I wouldn't be able to forgive myself," he hung his head.

Master Fu rested his hand on his shoulder. "I heard secondhand from Plagg, but do you mind explaining to me what had happened?"

Adrien sat down with the Master, Plagg, and Wayzz, sipping a nice cup of tea as he divulged every detail he could remember about everything that had happened in recent weeks. Once Adrien was finished, he felt a fresh ache radiate in his chest.

Master Fu hummed as he took a drink of tea. "I see," he said. Then fell silent for a few moments before speaking again. "You know her identity, and it wasn't your fault. There's nothing you could've done to change that. However, I must say that everything that you saw in that vision won't necessarily come true. You can still change it."

"But she's with Luka now, she's already on that path to everything else I saw coming true, isn't she?"

Master Fu chuckled and gave him a warm smile. "That's the thing about time. We may have the… _privilege_ to get a look into what's to come, but in reality, it is only one possibility. For instance, every decision you make brings you onto a different, or slightly different path. Some decisions, while different, will eventually bring you back to the same path. While others will set you out on an entirely new one. I can promise you that there is a _good_ decision you can make that will prevent the outcome you saw. It can't undo what's already happened, but it can change your future."

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so. Unfortunately, I don't know what that decision would be to advise you. But I want you to think things over, and know that there is still time to change everything. It's not too late."

Adrien smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. "Thank you, Master Fu."

"If you need to talk things over with Plagg, feel free to go up on the roof for a bit for some privacy."

"Thanks, that'd be great! But there's one more thing I wanted to discuss with you..."

"Oh?"

Adrien got to his feet. "I'm not saying I'm not considering what you're saying, Master, but I want to be prepared for whatever my decision may be. I think the chance of me returning as Chat Noir is slim, but I still want to help Ladybug in any way I'm able. Even if it's only behind-the-scenes. Would you be able to help me with that?"

Master Fu blinked. "Yes, of course!"

He let out a sigh of relief. "I feel guilty abandoning her like this, so I'm glad I can still help her out. There's one more thing though… since I don't know how things will go, regardless of what I decide, would it be possible for you to teach me how to keep my emotions in check? I can't risk getting akumatized."

"I would be happy to. We'll start when you come back from your talk with Plagg."

"Marinette?"

She stared blankly into space as she slowly moved the broom back and forth.

"Marinette? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she heard her mother's worried tone.

"Huh?" Marinette blinked. "Oh. Oh Mom, Adrien withdrew from school. He…" she trailed off, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Sabine gently pulled her daughter to her in a warm embrace. "He won't talk to any of us, Mom," she mumbled. "Not me, Nino, Chloe, or even Kagami. Something's seriously wrong with him and I want more than anything to help things, but I don't even know what's wrong. He wouldn't talk to anybody about it."

"Would he tell his father? Or his assistant, Nathalie, right?" Sabine asked.

Marinette sniffled. "No. A little while ago I went to talk about things with Nathalie. It sounds like both could tell something's up, but he won't talk with them, either."

"Oh dear. It's not good to bottle everything up. Surely he must have someone to talk to…" her mom rubbed her back soothingly before letting her go. "We'll think of something to help him, don't worry sweetheart."

"Thanks Mom." Of course, Adrien wasn't the only one she worried about, weighing on her. Seeing Marinette's frown tipped her off. "Is there something else going on that's troubling you?"

"N-no, just Adrien," she gave her a grin that was much too wide, which was quite unconvincing. "Anyway, I think I'm going to go take a nap. I'm really tired from school today."

Sabine gave her a look but nodded. "Okay, have a good rest."

After Marinette made it to her room, Tikki timidly came out from her hiding place. "Are you going out to look for Chat Noir again?"

"Yes. He can't just leave like that without saying goodbye. Tikki, spots on."

Ladybug went searching again, broadening her search. While she still was looking particularly for blond boys, she started going up to guys wearing black, regardless of their hair. With how much Chat Noir talked about how good he looks in it, surely he'd have to be wearing something that was black, right?

She had come across several that were either blond or wearing black, and only one that matched both. That guy immediately pulled out his phone and started recording her with stars in his brown eyes.  
Right when she was going to head for home before she was checked on during her "nap", a guy walked out of an alley wearing a black hoodie, hood up, and trying to look inconspicuous. Her eyes widened and went full force swinging after him. As she got closer, she saw blond hair sticking out from the side of his hood.

Ladybug landed in front of him, not expecting to recognize the boy in front of her like most of the others.

"Adrien?"


	11. Chapter 11

Adrien let out a gasp and took an instinctive step back as Ladybug suddenly landed right in front of him. Her bluebell stare burned into him as guilt and pain quickly washed over him. "Ladybug," he greeted politely, but avoided eye contact.

She remained quiet, which was highly unusual. When he looked back, he couldn't quite tell what was going through her mind. Did Ladybug figure out he was Chat Noir and was about to give him an earful? Or was it Marinette looking at Adrien?

"Come with me," she finally said, grabbing him by the wrist and leading him to a nearby bench. He saw her take a deep breath then exhale before she turned to face him. "You've probably had a lot of people coming up to ask you lately what's wrong."

"Why would anything be wrong?" he asked, scratching his arm nervously. Obviously he knew exactly how she'd know, but as far as she's concerned, she doesn't know that he knew.

"I think all of Paris knows something's going on. But you haven't been paying attention, have you?" she took her yo-yo from her hip and started touching buttons. She showed him news pieces about how depressed he's appeared to be whenever he's been spotted in public. Some of what they featured in their segments were images from his latest photoshoot. His usual glow was gone.  
Then Ladybug showed him comments of netizens asking if he was okay and speculating what could be wrong, anything from his father and missing mother, to girls, to reasons such as him having put on an act this entire time and this was actually the real Adrien Agreste, similar to his father.

He sighed.

"All I need to know," she began, watching him carefully. "Is that you have someone you can talk to about whatever you're dealing with."

Adrien nodded. "There's one person."

"Good," Ladybug smiled, but it looked strained. "I won't ask you anything else. Even though I have several questions I want to ask you. Like why you're wearing that hoodie and walking down the street like you just robbed a bank. But I won't," she firmly waved her hand to the side. She got into position to leave, but something held her back. "...Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself." She smiled again, this time much more genuine, though also melancholy.

Adrien's eyes widened. "Wait!" he cried, holding his arm out. "Y-you seem to be looking for someone," he scrambled, wanting her to stay with him a bit longer.

Ladybug dropped her arm. She took the few steps to stand in front of Adrien on the bench. "I am," she replied, her glance to the side.

"If I may ask, who are you looking for?"

Her shoulders slumped and she sat back down on the bench next to him. "You're going to hear about it soon, anyway. I'm looking for Chat Noir's civilian self. He… he gave up his Miraculous."

"Why?"

"He found out my identity because of an akuma. He thinks he's keeping me safe by giving Chat Noir up."

Adrien saw tears begin to fill her gorgeous eyes. He started to reach out to comfort her, but he remembered he had to keep his distance, for both their sakes, and pulled his hand back.

"Isn't he? Isn't it dangerous for him to know who you are with Hawk Moth after the Miraculous? And maybe...maybe he has other reasons he gave it all up?"

"That's why I want to find him. It just doesn't feel right. He didn't even say goodbye, he just _left_. He's my best friend and he just _left_ me. And it doesn't make sense."

Oooh this was a really bad idea. She was making it so hard to stay away. The urge to come clean about his identity, everything that had been going on, was beyond overwhelming. He swallowed nervously. And _he really was her best friend_. Adrien felt sick to his stomach.

"There are things I still have to tell him that I never got the chance to. It's all my fault, I should've handled everything differently," she let out a sad laugh as she wiped away an escaped tear.

"So are you just going around Paris, stopping at everyone who matches him, hoping you'll find him?" he asked, trying to steer the subject away from her pain a bit.

She laughed. "It sounds crazy, I know, but neither of our Kwami's can tell me due to the magic. Like if you had kept Sass, he wouldn't have been able to reveal who you are to anyone. And Master, he definitely won't tell me. I've asked him more than once. I don't know what else to do, so my only option is to try to find him myself, and this is the only way I can go about it for now."

"I see. I… I'm sure things will work out for you, Ladybug," he began. "Maybe not in the way you'd like, but there's no way someone like you is going to end up unhappy. I just know it."

She shot him a quizzical look. Before she could ask him about it, Adrien got to his feet.

"Anyway, I should get going. I've been out longer than I should've been. Good luck," The corner of his mouth tilted up slightly as he bowed his head once as his goodbye.

Ladybug watched him walk away with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his head down. She wondered how he could've changed so drastically in such a short amount of time. At least there was someone out there he could trust enough to confide in about his problems so he wasn't completely alone. Feeling slightly better, yet strangely more conflicted and uneasy, Ladybug took off to continue searching the city for Chat Noir.


	12. Chapter 12

**_4 years later_**

He heard her melodic laugh coming from somewhere behind him, the sound inflating his heart like a balloon, making him grin so wide that his face was hurting. On his left, he watched a blur of red breeze by him as she ran past.

"What are you doing, Chat? Keep up!" He heard her call happily.

He felt his body rock as he heard himself give out a hearty laugh. "Hey, wait up, Ladybug!"

Chat Noir was leaping over streets, landing on rooftops with the metallic sound from his boots echoing around him, running with the whistling wind in his hair and the taste of freedom overriding his senses. It felt so light, so perfect. And the view was spectacular.

"Where are we going?" Chat Noir called after her.

"You'll see!"

Ladybug turned a corner, and when Chat Noir approached, suddenly she had vanished.

"Ladybug? Ladybug?!" he called, turning his head in several directions trying to find her.

"Over here!" she waved. Letting out a sigh of relief, he followed her the rest of the way, and into a building.

"Why are we here?" he wanted to know.

Ladybug smiled up at him. "So people won't find out I'm Marinette," she said, letting her transformation go with a finger held to her lips. After the flash, Marinette stood beaming up at him. "Come on," she took his hand, which caused Chat Noir to let out a gasp.

Within the blink of an eye, they were on what appeared to be the Grand Paris Hotel's rooftop, but not quite. There were decorations, lights, food… but the only thing he really cared about there was Marinette.

"You're so pretty," he breathed, his hands outreached for hers as he approached her. Marinette blushed and looked down at the ground, embarrassed. He almost wanted to tell her he missed her, but that wasn't right. Marinette was right in front of him. How was he in a position to miss her? Everything was perfect.

A figure approached them before Chat Noir could take Marinette's hands. He stood beside her, his silvery-green eyes shining brightly in the light. His dark ebony hair spiked up around his head, around his cat ears. He was in full costume, an alternate version of Chat Noir's own suit.  
The young man gave him a crooked and cocky grin as he rested his silver-clawed hand on Marinette's shoulder. She looked up at the man pleasantly before facing Chat Noir again.

Chat's heart throbbed.

"I miss you…" he heard her voice, so beautiful, so pained, echo. But Marinette hadn't appeared to have spoken at all, her pleasant expression remaining.

"I miss you…" echoed again, piercing his heart.

"NO!" Adrien's eyes fluttered open, a silent tear already halfway down his cheek as he jolted up out of bed.

He tried clearing his throat to get the lump that had settled there, out, but it didn't work. Then he reached for the glass of water at his bedside, though that didn't get rid of the feeling either.

Instead, he choked on his water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he was through coughing.

Adrien had heard about this new Chat Noir that had been spotted a couple of times with Ladybug. She was supposed to give Paris an introduction to her new partner later today. He happened to see one of these photos on a news screen while downtown accomplishing a task for _Gabriel's_.

He knew keeping up with Ladybug news would be especially difficult in a city that she protected on a near daily basis, but he never checked the Ladyblog or alternate sources for news. Though Adrien had also seen her run by his home on the rooftops on occasion. Once she had glanced over at him on her way by, her eyes piercing into his. After her third run-by, Adrien asked his father to set up blackout curtains, claiming the sun was bothering him too much. The only times he ever did see her or hear about her was the very rare times he left his home. He worked out of it, as he put his foot down at 17 to stop modeling and acquired a different position in the company. He had everything, or access to everything, he could ever need for day-to-day life. But the pain and gaping hole where his friends, Plagg, and Marinette used to be was still there, as big as ever, and nothing seemed to make it better. Sometimes it felt like it grew bigger as time passed.

A knock at Adrien's door broke him from his thoughts about the new Chat Noir reveal to the public.

"Adrien? I need you to take a look at these… did you just wake up?" Nathalie asked, several binders in her arms. He ran his hand through his messy hair. "Yes, I… didn't sleep well last night."

"If you need to rest, I could just tell your father-"

"No! No, no need, Nathalie," he interrupted, jumping to his feet, rushing over to get his clothes for the day. "I'm fine. You know it's best not to bother him. We don't want another outburst."

"No. Definitely not," Nathalie sighed sadly.

"Is there anything else you need me to accomplish today?"

"Yes. I need you to go to the Grand Paris Hotel early this afternoon and pick up something from Mayor Bourgeois. I've got much that your father insists I get done today, so I've no time."

"But Nathalie…" Adrien felt panic begin to rise within him. "T-That's where Ladybug and that.. that new Chat Noir guy are going to be today, right?"

Nathalie blinked. "I suppose so. I don't see how that relates to you speaking with Mayor Bourgeois, though. Please Adrien, it won't take long. Just go once you're finished with these," she tapped on the binders plastic covers.

He sighed. "Yes Nathalie, of course."

She gave him a relieved smile and swiftly left the room.

Poor Nathalie was so overworked, her hair was beginning to turn grey in places and she looked like she needed about a week's worth of sleep. His father had become pretty difficult as of late, which pushed her to work harder. Adrien couldn't dare turn down such an easy request from her that would make her life easier. Gritting his teeth, he got down to business to finish his work as quickly as possible so he could leave and get back home where he wouldn't have to see anyone, or the event.

But that's not how things work out, it would seem the bad luck has stuck with him long after giving up his Miraculous.

On his walk to the hotel, he thought about his most recent conversation with Master Fu.

_"She's been so stubborn for so long, Adrien. She's refused a new partner to take the Cat Miraculous, but she desperately needs it. Even with the help of the other heroes, they barely get out of akuma attacks these days. Their team is imbalanced without it. Are you sure you won't-?"_

_"No, Master, you know I can't."_

_The old man sighed. "I know. But I had to ask you. I suppose that means she'll be getting a new partner, then."_

_"Are you going to pick, o-or will she?" Adrien stammered a little. _

_"I will choose, of course. She doesn't need that burden, especially when she's so adamantly against it. He'll be someone she's never met, I can assure you. But I must tell you, Adrien, there's nobody else that could wield this Miraculous that would be what she truly needs. Yes, she needs the powers it brings, but the balance won't be fully restored with her new power. There are things you have yet to understand..."_

_He didn't give a response, because he wasn't certain that was really true. Maser Fu sighed again._

_"You can still help her like you have been the past few years. Just your encouragement alone helps. She comes here to read your letters when she needs reassurance. She still needs you."_

Adrien rushed into the hotel, hoping he could slip in and out, but he was greeted by the sight of Ladybug standing there with the new Chat Noir.

Ladybug stood nervously behind the podium. Her new partner she introduced as Silver Claw to the citizens of Paris was standing beside her, appearing unaffected by any of this. If anything, he seemed pleased. She had been doing this for years, and yet the nerves never went away, especially now. Yet this man who had barely dipped his toes into the superhero lifestyle was already so accepting of it.

She was halfway through her speech when she saw a blond man rush into the lobby. Ladybug stopped speaking when she realized who it was, cutting herself off mid word.

Adrien stood there with his hair looking windswept to one side, either on purpose or he had forgotten to run a brush through it. Either way he was still very handsome. More handsome by far than the last time she saw him. He didn't appear in public much and whenever he did manage to be in a magazine or on TV, she tried to avoid it.

Camera's were clicking and flashing like mad taking photos of Adrien and Ladybug. He glanced over at Silver Claw and gave him a look he knew the man wouldn't understand, but hoped Plagg would. Then his eyes trailed back to Ladybug.

"My apologies," he said. "I came to see Mayor Bourgeois." Clearing his throat, he went around the crowd to reach the mayor. But his eyes never left Ladybug. And hers never left Adrien.

There was this opportunity to talk to him again without overstepping her bounds and going to his house specifically to speak with him. Please let him stay long enough for her to step away, she thought.

She didn't get her wish. Adrien was in and out of there quickly, the camera's even followed him out.

Headlines on newspapers, TV news programs, and online articles were going crazy with the event from the afternoon before. Instead of focusing on Silver Claw, they were running with a possible romance between Ladybug and Adrien Agreste.

Marinette rested her head on her arms that rested crossed on top of her desk.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" asked Tikki. "You keep sighing."

"Can you believe this? They're spinning a story about Ladybug and Adrien."

"Good thing Luka doesn't know you're Ladybug, huh?"

Marinette moved her head enough to glare at her Kwami. "Not funny."

"You're right, it's not funny. I'm sorry. How are you feeling?"

"Paralyzingly guilty and aching so much I just want to curl back up in bed." The look her Kwami gave her was confused. She knew the questions she wanted to ask her, so she answered them. "I feel extremely guilty for two reasons. One, for having a new partner. I know I have to do what's best for Paris but every time I look at Silver Claw, my throat becomes tight and I just want to cry, because the first thing that goes through my mind is 'Chat Noir should be here with me' and he won't be again and I just..." she huffed and took a couple of calming breaths.  
"The second reason was because yesterday, when Adrien came in during the press conference and we saw each other again, for a minute there, I felt… whole. I don't know how to explain it, but when he came in, during the time we were looking at each other, it was like he was the only one in the room. The only one in my head and heart. It wasn't until he was walking out that I remembered Luka… and now I feel so guilty because I know I'm not over Adrien, but here I've been with Luka all this time…" she groaned as she buried her head in her arms. "I'm absolutely a horrible person."

"No you're not. Your situation is just very complicated and unusual. Nobody would blame you for feeling this way. Your aching is because you really miss Adrien again and didn't get a chance to talk to him, right?"

Marinette made a noise indicating Tikki's assumption was correct. "And because seeing him again brought back the feelings for him I tried so hard to bury."

"Are you going to tell Luka what happened and how you feel?"

"No, I can't, Tikki. If I told him, he'd find out I lied to him about where I was," a dent formed between her eyebrows as they pulled together with worry and anxiety. "And I can't be honest about why I was there, so I can't tell him. If I told him about my feelings for Adrien, even without an explanation of where this came from, it'd hurt him. Anything with Adrien is hopeless anyway..." she trailed off. "I could never find Chat Noir and Adrien stopped wanting to have anything to do with me and the others years ago. Even now I have to be reminded of when they left," she mumbled the last line. "There's no reason to bring Luka into all of this. Imagine what he'd think if he found out I'm being torn into pieces over two boys I haven't spoken to in years while we've been dating for four years."

Marinette got out of her desk chair and went back up to her bed, leaving a tired and helpless Tikki to her thoughts and her own bit of guilt. 

* * *

Literally fell asleep writing this, but wanted to get it up to you ASAP! Please let me know what you think by leaving me a review. c: Enjoy!


End file.
